Transcranial Pulse Stimulation - A Therapy Option with a Future
In the Future, it should also be Possible to Treat Other Indications with the TPS Shockwaves
To date, Transcranial Pulse Stimulation has been approved for the “Treatment of the Central Nervous System in Alzheimer’s dementia”. Since Alzheimer’s dementia is often accompanied by other forms of dementia, mixed forms are also treated. However, others, presumably or logically all neurodegenerative diseases, will also be treatable with TPS in the future. But for each individual indication (each clinical picture), a separate individual approval must be obtained. This usually takes many years, is bound to strict clinical and bureaucratic guidelines – and of course costs a lot of money.
One sees this at the research and development in the Pharma industry: Here on the average 13 years pass, until an active substance receives an approval of whatever kind and according to investigations the average costs of the development of a new innovative medicine lie with up to 2.6 billion US dollar!
These rules also apply in medical technology, from which the TPS comes in practical implementation. But after all, the NEUROLITH, that is, the shock wave system for the implementation of transcranial pulse stimulation, after more than 30 years of research and development CE-approved for the treatment of the central nervous system in Alzheimer’s dementia. All other possible treatment options, some of which have already been implemented in practice, are so-called “off-label use” applications.
In the scientific and clinical field, TPS has also been used very successfully in Parkinson’s disease for more than 10 years. Also, a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study is currently nearing completion, which will or can lead to a further individual approval for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
German medical law recognizes the therapeutic trial under medical responsibility. We physicians in private practice can therefore already treat Parkinson’s as a so-called “off-label-use” therapy at their own discretion. In medicine, “off-label use” means that a drug or a therapy procedure is used for a different indication (a different clinical picture) for which the drug/therapy has no or no own approval. By the way, this is everyday life in every medical practice, because many drugs or therapies are – for the aforementioned reasons: time, money, bureaucracy – are generally not approved for all indications for which they would actually be suitable.
Transcranial Pulse Stimulation - A View into the Future
According to current research criteria and based on the mode of action of shock waves in the context of TPS, other indications such as condition after stroke, polyneuropathies, multiple sclerosis and other systemic brain diseases up to structural damage of the central nervous system, i.e. paraplegia, are also on the list of possibilities of Transcranial Pulse Stimulation – TPS is a therapy option with a great future. In addition, neurodegenerative diseases after SARS-CoV-2 infection, i.e. in so-called long covid and post covid diseases, are currently the subject of intensive investigations – with very promising results.
In the practices managed by Prof. Dr. med. Musa Citak, we currently offer Transcranial Pulse Stimulation for Parkinson’s disease, depression, as well as for neurodegenerative symptoms in long-covid and post-covid or so-called neuro-covid diseases as an “off-label use therapy”.
“With Transcranial Pulse Stimulation, research and development have created another treatment module from the family of shock wave therapies that can expand the possibilities for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s dementia.”
Prof. Musa Citak, M.D.